


Owl

by everscamp



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: F/M, Gen, I'm Bad At Summaries, and i'm bad at tags, kinda have a plot for this one, started for nanowrimo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:48:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28926789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everscamp/pseuds/everscamp
Summary: A curse has befallen those who walk in the shadows. It has struck at the most inopportune time, and Mariette needs to find out why or her whole livelihood is in danger. So she does what anyone in her line of work should do: she heads to the source to find out why.
Kudos: 1





	Owl

The smell of soured ale lingered as he moved closer to inspect his prize, his breath hot against skin as he moved to his prey's hair and inhaled deeply.   
“Well, what a pretty little sneak-thief,” The man purred, gripping the thief's face in his one hand. He pulled back from her hair and sneered down, his hazel eyes bloodshot and a drunken grin contorting his face. Struggling against her bonds his finger and thumb becoming increasingly tense as he dug into the thief's jaw, tilting their head and staring into her eyes. “But you're not a very good one, are you?” 

The thief glared up at him and gathered the saliva in her mouth, spitting at the man and just barely hitting her mark as the drool landed on his cheek. He removed his fingers from her jaw and touched the spittle, realization coming across his face. Wiping it away in disgust he growled and smacked her, his open palm colliding with the side of her head and sending her to the floor.   
She lie there, her ears ringing as the man confidently strode towards the front door.

Two guards entered. She watched as the man talked with them, his back to her. The guards' faces were hidden behind metal masks. One of the guards nodded as they ambled past the man towards me and reaching a hand under each of my arms they hoisted me up and started dragging me outside. 

“Wait,” the man called.

The guards stopped. “Sir?” 

“Never mind.” The man smirked and gave a quick wave goodbye before closing the door behind us. 'Bastard.' She thought with a growl as the guards jostled her around, her feet just brushing the ground. 

“Look guys, you can put me down. I know how to walk.” The thief pleaded to her escorts, swinging her legs as she tried to knock herself loose. Their hands just tightened their grip and the thief went limp again.

“Shut up thief.” the pressure stayed the same as the trip got closer and closer to the keep. Her eyes watched as the stone structure became larger, the shadow of the keep enveloping the trio as they walked down the stone steps into the belly of the beast. 

The guards nodded at the sentinel at the entrance of the jail as they kept walking. The temperature dipped quickly as the stone structure surrounded them, walking deeper and deeper underground. 

“Another one?” A guard perched behind a desk looked up at us as they walked in. “We're almost out of room.”

“I know, but this one was caught in Belethor's shop.” 

“Ah, well take her back and see what she's got on her. I think cell four is open.” The guards gave a brief nod as they drug their prisoner back into the main hall of the dungeons. A few worn faces watched as the thief was walked to her cell, a mix of pity and disdain showing in their eyes. Stopping abruptly they threw her forward, her small frame tumbling to the ground in the cage. A set of ragged robes were thrown at her as one of the guards stood over her, the other stayed back just behind the threshold with a book and quill in his hands.

“Strip.”

“E-excuse me?” She stared up, feigning innocence and clutching the robes to her chest. The metal-masked guard just stared at her before she gave up with a sigh. Deft fingers unlaced her tunic where it dropped to the ground with a light floof, stirring the dust-up slightly as a few lock picks fell from a pocket. She slowly unlaced her boots and tossed them aside. 

The guard from the threshold opened the book, and upon finding an empty page he started his questions. “Name,”

“Mariette Mallon.”She slipped the tunic over her head. It was huge, her petite Breton frame swimming as she rolled the sleeves up. The guard stared at her for a few moments debating whether that was a real name before nodding in acceptance and scribbling down her answer. Mariette continued changing.   
“Where are you from sneak-thief?” Mariette just shrugged off the question as her binds dropped in the pile. As she was undoing her belts she slowly pushed dirt over the lock picks that had fallen near her tunic, hoping the guard wasn't watching her feet as she dropped her pants, throwing them too in the pile of clothing and sliding on the ragged robes. Tightening the rope belt the nearest guard reached down and grabbed the pile of clothes, throwing them into the nearest bucket and tossing that by the door. 

“Where is your hometown.” The guard said again. 

“I have no hometown. I've been wandering the wilds of Skyrim since I could hold a dagger.” She stared both guards down but in the too-large clothing both guards burst out laughing.

“Well thief, enjoy your stay in Dragonsreach.” The guards continued to chuckle to themselves as the steel barred door swung shut behind them. Mariette smirked as they left, her eyes quickly glancing around her room.  
It was small, a single cot sat to the back corner with a small shelf at the foot. The shelf itself was empty which was common for a small jail such as Dragonsreach since most criminals were here briefly before being sent to their respective hold. The thing she was looking for though was a way out. And she found it by means of the lone grate on the far right of the room across from the bed. 

She slowly brushed her barefoot over the place the lock picks had been, a small glint caught her eye as she feigned stretching and brushed dirt back over them. She ambled over to the cot and threw herself down. “Guess there's nothing to do but get comfortable for a little bit.” 

Watching the doorway, timing how long each guard took to amble past Mariette calculated how long she would have to escape. With it being early morning most guards were sleeping, a handful was wandering the town and that left two in the dungeons. As the guard ambled past again she had a decent time before he circled back around. Jumping stealthily from the cot Mariette scooped the picks up and scuttled to the grate on the floor. 

Her fingers worked quickly with the thin pieces of metal and soon the small click of victory reached her ears. Her hand grabbed the grate before it fell and slowly lowered it down, taking a quick look behind her before jumping down into the sewer below. 

Torches lit up the walkway clearly as Mariette made her way to freedom. The ground was soft and moved uncomfortably under her feet and the walls felt slimy as water dripped from the moss that ran along the stone on the ceiling. Had the torches not been marking the way Mariette would have been turned around quite quickly with all of the dead ends but thankfully she had yet to run into anything living. A dead skeever made her heart race slightly when she walked down a blind alley earlier and the thought of the matted fur touching her skin made her stomach turn with the memory. 

The hallway soon came to an end and opened into a large room with a staircase and a barred door. Mariette shook the bars but it was locked, a lever sitting just on the other side. She pulled the lock picks out from that knot that was holding her hair up and tried but the thin metal was brittle from use and snapped quickly. 

“Dammit,” She cursed, stowing the last pick back in her hair, and looked up the steps. There was a chest leaning against a small barred window. Quietly she crawled up and peeked through.

Two guards stood there, both chattering to each other. 'The main entrance, then this must be the prisoner's chest.' She stood on the rock that jutted out below the window to give herself a step up and slid her fingers across the back of the trunk looking for the tell. A smile spread across her face as her finger slipped into a small opening, which when she pulled it back made way to a larger opening and all over her belongings. 

She peeked back over at the guards who were no wiser that she was there. Another guard entered with a drunk man, blocking her sight to the other two with his back and she hurriedly grabbed her belongings before closing the chest back up and hopping down from her perch. Quickly she changed, shoving the ragged robes into an alcove beside the prisoner's chest and surveying her surroundings again. With her lock picks broken there was no way to get through the door, but there had to be another way. A small opening was across from the stair top and upon inspection, she noticed it was a drop directly behind the barred door. 

“Jackpot,” Jumping down the ground felt much better beneath her boots. She turned and grabbed the lever's handle. A loud clank sounded from the door. “Might as well leave this open for the next poor soul.”

Smiling at her handy work she turned and headed down the hallway towards the lone way out. A ladder at the end of the hall, leading up into who knows where. Mariette braced herself as she opened the hatch.

A small room, one opening. A bale of hay lay in the corner across from the hatch and some barrels stood beside. Other than that the room was empty as Mariette pulled herself up and quietly closed the opening behind her. She peeked out the doorway into another empty room. Two closed doors were at either end and a similar room was across from her. A quick look through her current position and the room across yielding nothing but a few coins. She pocketed them and then stood in the main area, silently debating on which way to go.

Choosing the door to her left she quietly crept and edged it open slightly. The sounds of light snoring could be heard as Mariette peeked in. Beds lined the walls, a dresser stood at each end and a few bodies lay peacefully in said cots. No one seemed to be awake and she slipped silently into the quarters. 

'This is a terrible place to be.' Mariette thought to herself as she searched around the room for a way to escape, as well as anything else that could be used for her travels. She pocketed a coin pouch that was laying on the floor by a sleeping guard and was hurriedly searching through the bedside table but closed it in frustration. 'There's nothing here...' 

Then she spotted it, her ticket out. Scrunched in the corner, partially hidden under the beds was a uniform. A snort beside her causing her to jump but the guard just rolled over in his sleep. Letting out a pent up breath Mariette quickly grabbed the outfit and rushed from the room. Hiding safely by the hatch again she threw the uniform over her current attire and taking a deep breath headed out the only door she had ignored.

The main room housed two tables and a cooking pot, it was devoid of people except for one lone guard who sat reading. They nodded at her as she passed but kept their eyes upon the book as Mariette slipped out the main door. She pressed her back against the now shut door and breathed a sigh of relief.

She had done it. Whiterun lay in her sight and a soft morning breeze caressed her skin.

Hastily removing the guard uniform she tossed it into some bushes nearby and started out. It was time to get as far away from Whiterun as she could. The marketplace slowly started to awaken as the sun peeked over the sturdy stone walls that surrounded the city and the rooster gave its morning caw. Mariette kept to the shadows as she made her way quickly out of the city.

Whiterun lay in the middle of a vast valley, it's rolling hills and short greenery allowing all to see for miles. The scent of lavender and fresh mead wafted through the air. Mariette stretched, a large grin on her face as she enjoyed her freedom and headed towards the stables, more importantly, she headed for the carriage and to see what kind of gossip the driver had. Most would stop by the inns but in her experience, Mariette found the carriage drivers would have the freshest word, especially since the talkers were usually more sober so it was slightly more dependable. 

“Hail carriage driver, I'd like to hire your carriage. How much is it?” Mariette shielded her eyes from the bright morning light as she looked up at the man behind the reigns. 

“Aye, names Bjorlam miss, and well that all depends on where did you want to go? I can take you to any of the hold capitals.”

“Anything interesting coming from any of those capitals?”

“Well, I supposed that depends on your definition of interesting. Are you looking for a bit of adventure?”

Mariette laughed and nodded. “Aye, what's the word Rift ways? It's been a while since I've seen the trees.”

This caused Bjorlam to laugh himself but he shook his head. “Ah, I hear the thieves guild is trying to get going that way. But I also hear they're having a string of bad luck. If you're looking for work I'd try Solitude way at the docks, don't wanna be seeing your pretty face get mugged.”

“That's very sweet, but I highly doubt they'd bother with me. Besides, I kind of want to learn the ins and outs of a meadery. And they say Black Brier mead is the best around.”

“Aye, it is. Well, I suppose there's no talking you out of going to Riften is there?” Mariette shook her head which caused the driver to sigh. “Well, for you little lady I'll make your fare 10 gold. Need all the help you're gonna get if you wanna make it in the Rift.”

She handed him his pieces and jumped in the back as he was counting. He pocketed the gold and flicked the reigns. The horse snorted and started to move forwards, the sound of the wheels and the gentle clop of hooves on the stones relaxed Mariette as she lay down on the floor. “Is it alright if I take a nap?” She yawned and he nodded, handing a bundled horse blanket back to her. Getting comfortable she threw the extra layer over her and closed her eyes, slipping into sweet darkness.


End file.
